Baby soother

ABSTRACT

A baby soother comprising flexible teat and a separately formed flexible handle portion connected together by a ring moulded around them, at a position at which they are in juxtaposition.

United States Patent 11 1 1111 3,923,067 Hurst 1 1 Dec. 2, 1975 1 1 BABYSOOTHER 2,743,727 5/1956 Griesinger 128/360 3 [75] Inventor: EricKenneth Hurst, London, x669! 17 Herb 60 England FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS 1731 Assigneel F? GfiPtigh Limited 12,168 1914 UnitedKingdom 128/360 Blrmmgham, England 549,227 11/1942 United Kingdom128/359 [22] Filed Jan 11 1974 641,314 8/1950 United Kingdom 128/360 [21I Appl. N0.: 432,506

Primary Examiner-Channing L. Page [30] Foreign Application Priority DataJan. 13, 1973 Unlted Kmgdom 1893/73 ABSTRACT A y Soother comprisingflexible teat and a sepa [58] Fie'ld "i 360 rately formed flexiblehandle portion connected together by a ring moulded around them, at aposition at I 56] References Cited which they are in juxtaposition.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 2 Claims 1 Drawing Figure 2,112,316 3/1938 Turner128/359 x US. Patent Dec. '2, 1975 BABY SOOTI-IER The invention relatesto baby soothers of the kind comprising the essential elements of ateat, a handle extending in a direction away from the teat and a flangeforming a shield disposed between the teat and the handle.

Baby soothers of this kind must be so constructed that the elementscannot be readily separated without breaking one or more parts, sincethere is a danger that smaller components may be swallowed by the baby.In conventional soothers, the elements are all separately formed andfixed together in such a way that they cannot easily be dismantled.However should one part be removed, it is frequently the case that allparts will thereby become loosened or actually separated,

It is the object of this invention to provide a baby soother of the kindspecified in which the risk of separation of the constituent elements issubstantially eliminated.

According to the present invention a baby soother of the kind specifiedcomprises a teat and a handle. portion which are separately formed fromflexible material and are secured together with a shield defined attheir junction.

An example of the invention will now be described with reference to theaccompanying drawing, the single FIGURE of which is a cross-sectionalview of a soother constructed in accordance with the invention.

In the example of the invention, shown in the drawing the baby soothercomprises a preformed teat made from a flexible material such as latexrubber. The teat has a bulbous olive or pear shaped configuration and anintegral peripheral flange 10a.

Connected to this at the flange end is a handle portion 11 which is alsoformed from a flexible material such as latex rubber. In this example,the handle portion is a hollow disc shaped element having at oneposition on its periphery an integral annular flange 11a of externaldiameter approximating to the flange 10a of the teat. The flange 10a ofthe teat and the flange 11a of the handle portion are in face to facecontact and are joined by a ring 12 forming a shield for the soother,this ring being cast over and around the flanges of the teat and handleportion. The shield ring 12 in this example, is also made from theflexible material and there is formed a chemical bond as well as amechanical connection to secure the teat and handle portion together.

The teat may be filled for example with a jelly material or otherflexible or rigid material which may be of the same of a differentcolour from the material of the teat itself.

The handle portion may contain one or more coloured or other decorativeinserts rendering it either rigid or flexible. A hollow capsule may beincorporated in the handle portion containing beads or other objects tomake a rattle type soother. The shape of the handle portion may be otherthan the disc shown. The handle portion may have dimples or depressionsto provide finger grip portions, one of these being indicated at 13 inthe drawings.

The ring forming the shield may also incorporate coloured or otherdecorative inserts which may be rigid or flexible. Such inserts may beincorporated during the moulding operation to form the flange, theinserts becoming completely or partly encapsulated in the materialduring pouring into a suitably shaped mould.

The shield ring may however be pre-formed from a rigid material which isattached to the combined teat and handle portion which have been securedtogether by adhesive means by a previous operation.

Such adhesion may be achieved between the components by pouringadditional quantities of latex rubber to form a chemical bond with thematerial from which the components themselves are made. Preferably, suchbonding should incorporate a mechanical overlapping formation to providemechanical connection between the components.

In a further alternative construction, the teat and handle portion haveno flanges which are in juxtaposition but instead have interlockingformations whereby they can be mechanically connected together, prior tocasting of a flange to form the shield or prior to fitting of apre-formed shield by the pouring of additional material.

In the examples described, the teat and handle portions are both made bythe latex dip process but in an alternative, the handle portion isconstructed by a casting operation. In such an example, it is formedwith a ring and a portion for engagement with and securement to theteat. Rigid or flexible material can be used for this portion of thebaby soother.

I claim:

1. A baby soother comprising a flexible teat, a flexible handle portionseparate from the teat, and a shield serving to secure the teat andhandle permanently together at their junction, wherein the teat andhandle portions have respective integral flanges which are arranged injuxtaposition, said shield being defined over and around said flanges tosecure the teat and handle portion permanently together, said flangesand said shield being chemically and mechanically bonded togetherwhereby said flanges and said shield form an integral mass.

2. A baby soother as claimed in claim 1 in which the shield is of aflexible material.

1. A baby soother comprising a flexible teat, a flexible handle portion separate from the teat, and a shield serving to secure the teat and handle permanently together at their junction, wherein the teat and handle portions have respective integral flanges which are arranged in juxtaposition, said shield being defined over and around said flanges to secure the teat and handle portion permanently together, said flanges and said shield being chemically and mechanically bonded together whereby said flanges and said shield form an integral mass.
 2. A baby soother as claimed in claim 1 in which the shield is of a flexible material. 